Philippine digital platform study urges privacy integration into competition law
By James Konstantin Galvez ( February 20, 2026, 08:48 GMT | Insight) -- A market study by the Philippine Competition Commission recommends integrating data privacy considerations into the Philippine Competition Act and strengthening coordination with privacy regulators and foreign competition authorities. The report finds that highly concentrated social media and search markets — dominated by Meta’s Facebook and Google — allow extensive data consolidation that may reinforce market power, and calls for further research into data portability and interoperability safeguards.A market study by the Philippine antitrust regulator has recommended that data privacy considerations be explicitly integrated into the country's competition law, warning that extensive data consolidation by dominant digital platforms may entrench market power in the country’s social media and search markets.The new market study published Friday outlines four policy priorities aimed at addressing the overlap between competition policy and data protection in digital markets (see here).First, it proposes incorporating data privacy considerations into competition analysis under the Philippine Competition Act. The study argues that control over personal data has become a competitive parameter in zero-price digital markets and may warrant more explicit treatment when assessing market power and competitive effects.Second, it calls for further research into data portability and interoperability mechanisms. While such tools may reduce switching costs and improve competition, the report cautions that their design requires careful study to avoid unintended privacy and cybersecurity risks.Third, it recommends strengthening international cooperation among competition authorities on issues involving data mobility and cross-border data flows. Given that major digital platforms operate across jurisdictions, enforcement challenges may arise from divergent privacy standards and regulatory fragmentation.Fourth, it urges closer coordination with the National Privacy Commission, including potential legislative reform, to better align privacy safeguards with competition enforcement objectives.Kenneth Tanate, the executive director of the Philippine Competition Commission, or PCC, told MLex that the study's findings could inform possible legislative amendments.“This is one of the possibilities that it may be included in our position paper for PCA amendment,” Tanate said, noting that the intersection between competition policy and data privacy is a growing focus internationally.“In the international arena, the intersection between competition policy and data privacy is a hot topic. Competition authorities are having a hard time collecting information due to claims of data privacy,” he added.Tanate emphasized, however, that the report remains exploratory in nature. “It is just a study for now. But if ever the issue may be raised with PCC, we may provide inputs based on the study,” he said.The recommendations follow the study's assessment that social media and general search markets in the Philippines exhibit high levels of concentration. Based on user share indicators cited in the report, Facebook and Messenger dominate social media usage, while Google accounts for approximately 95 percent of search engine referrals in the country.Although the report does not conduct a formal relevant market definition exercise under the Philippine Competition Act, it characterizes these markets as structurally concentrated and shaped by strong network effects, economies of scale and ecosystem integration.The study explains that both Facebook and Google operate multi-sided business models in which users do not pay monetary fees. Instead, platforms generate revenue primarily through targeted advertising, with user attention and data functioning as the effective currency....
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